April 04, 2012

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LEWISBURG, Pa. — Columnist Dan Savage, co-founder of the It Gets Better Project, will speak Monday, April 16, at 7 p.m. in the Weis Center for the Performing Arts at Bucknell University.

The talk, which is free and open to the public, is co-sponsored by the President's Office, the Dean of Students Office, LGBT, Bucknell Student Government, FLAG&BT and Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity.

Savage will discuss creating the "It Gets Better" campaign, which began in September 2010, in response to the suicides of 15-year-old Billy Lucas, Tyler Clementi and other teens who were bullied because they were gay or suspected to be gay.

Created by Savage and his husband, Terry Miller, the project encourages adults, both LGBT and otherwise, to submit videos assuring gay teenagers that life can improve after bullying in early life. As of Jan. 3, 2011, the project had more than 5,000 user-created testimonials. || Related Bucknell news story

Savage writes the internationally syndicated relationship and sex advice column Savage Love. He also has worked as a theater director, both under his real name and under the name Keenan Hollahan, using his middle name and his grandmother's maiden name.

He is the author of four books including The Kid: What Happened after my Boyfriend and I Decided to Go Get Pregnant (1999), winner of the PEN West Award for Excellence in Creative Non-fiction, and Skipping Towards Gomorrah: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Pursuit of Happiness in America, winner of the Lambda Literary Award.

He is the editorial director of the weekly Seattle newspaper The Stranger and a contributor to "This American Life," an hour-long radio show on Chicago's WBEZ as well as a frequent contributor to Out magazine and a "Real Time Real Reporter" on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher."

He also has made multiple appearances on MSNBC's "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" and CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" discussing LGBT political issues such as same-sex marriage and Don't Ask Don't Tell.

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